(Cricinfo) A pumped-up MS Dhoni showed why he’s one of the great finishers in the game, blasting 25 runs in the final two overs to ensure Chennai Super Kings would contest an IPL semi-final for the third season in a row.
Chennai’s chances seemed dim after Shaun Marsh’s sparkling innings had powered Kings XI Punjab to a massive total, but meaty innings from Suresh Raina and S Badrinath set the stage for a Dhoni onslaught during a tense finish.
Punjab held the edge for most of the match, and going into the last two overs Chennai needed 29, a tough task even with Dhoni and Albie Morkel at the crease.
Juan Theron had been a hero the last time the two teams met, but he couldn’t save Punjab in Dharamsala.
The penultimate over by Theron started with two thunderous hits for four from Dhoni, feasting on the length deliveries offered.
He looked to repeat on the third ball, but a thick edge flew high and fast to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara, who managed to get a glove on it.
Theron kept it to singles for the rest of the over, leaving Chennai needing 13 off the final over.
The first delivery was almost a yorker from Irfan Pathan, but Dhoni managed to power it wide of long off for four. The next was a slower one that he top-edged, but it landed short of long off and Chennai were two runs closer.
The match was effectively sealed off the third delivery: a monstrous hit over wide long on sent the ball out of the ground, reducing the equation to four off three. Dhoni finished it with another thrash over long on, and the famously cool captain let out a roar and then punched the side of the helmet as the adrenaline flowed.
Punjab had looked set to close out a forgettable season with a consolation win after they had been sent in. Mahela Jayawardene’s blistering cameo gave them a cracking start, and Sangakkara showed again that you could score at Twenty20 rate using orthodox cricketing strokes.
Marsh was content to let the Sri Lankan stars make most of the runs in the first half of the innings, but once Chennai hit back with the big wickets of Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh in successive overs, he brought out the clean hitting that got him runs by the wagonload in the inaugural season.
He and Irfan amassed 99 runs in the last eight overs, and the Marsh blitz started with two sixes and two fours in six deliveries, during which he galloped from 39 to 58.
A slog-sweep out of the stadium followed, and he clubbed Bollinger twice over the ropes in the 19th over.
Irfan racked up 15 in the final over but that proved pointless in a match which was characteristic of Kings XI Punjab’s season: their batsmen piled on lots of runs but the limp bowling and awful fielding kept Sangakkara’s men at the foot of the table for almost the entire tournament.
